09 - RouteTrack Pi — Dashboard Autostart (Gunicorn + systemd)

Date: December 25, 2025 Category: Raspberry Pi / GPS / Flask / systemd Backlink: 08 – RouteTrack Pi — Local Web Dashboard (Flask API + Leaflet Map) 

 

 Project Goal 

 At this stage RouteTrack already has a working local web dashboard (Flask + Leaflet). This page productionizes that dashboard so it behaves like a real appliance: 

 

 

 Starts automatically on boot 

 

 

 Stays running in the background 

 

 

 Restarts if it crashes 

 

 

 Runs the Flask app using Gunicorn (production WSGI server) 

 

 

 This is especially important because this Pi will be powered off frequently and used on-the-go. 

 

 Why Gunicorn + systemd? 

 Gunicorn 

 Gunicorn is a production-grade Python WSGI server that runs Flask reliably with multiple workers. 

 systemd 

 systemd provides: 

 

 

 Autostart on boot 

 

 

 Automatic restart on failure 

 

 

 Central logging via journalctl 

 

 

 Clean service management ( start/stop/status ) 

 

 

 

 Install Gunicorn (venv) 

 Install into the existing RouteTrack virtual environment: 

 /opt/routetrack/venv/bin/pip install gunicorn

 

 My output confirmed it was already installed: 

 Requirement already satisfied: gunicorn in /opt/routetrack/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages (23.0.0)

 

 

 Create the Dashboard systemd Service 

 Create the service file: 

 sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/routetrack-dashboard.service

 

 Paste the unit file: 

 [Unit]

Description=RouteTrack Local Dashboard (Gunicorn)

After=network-online.target

Wants=network-online.target

[Service]

# Run the service under my normal user (not root)

User=zippyb

Group=zippyb

# Ensure relative paths work (app:app loads from this folder)

WorkingDirectory=/opt/routetrack/web

# Start Gunicorn on port 5000, listening on all interfaces

# -w 2 = 2 worker processes (lightweight + responsive on Pi)

ExecStart=/opt/routetrack/venv/bin/gunicorn -w 2 -b 0.0.0.0:5000 app:app

# Keep it alive if it crashes

Restart=always

RestartSec=3

# Basic hardening

NoNewPrivileges=true

PrivateTmp=true

[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target

 

 

 Reload systemd and Enable the Service 

 Reload units: 

 sudo systemctl daemon-reload

 

 Enable + start the service: 

 sudo systemctl enable --now routetrack-dashboard.service

 

 

 Verify the Service Is Running 

 Check status: 

 systemctl status routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

 

 My output confirmed it is running and listening properly: 

 

 

 Service is active (running) 

 

 

 Gunicorn started successfully 

 

 

 Listening on http://0.0.0.0:5000 

 

 

 Two workers booted 

 

 

 Example output: 

 Active: active (running)

Main PID: 9358 (gunicorn)

Listening at: http://0.0.0.0:5000 (9358)

Booting worker with pid: 9359

Booting worker with pid: 9360

 

 

 Operational Notes 

 Where logs are stored 

 Because this is managed by systemd, logs are available via: 

 journalctl -u routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

 

 Last 50 lines: 

 journalctl -u routetrack-dashboard.service -n 50 --no-pager -l

 

 Accessing the dashboard 

 From any device on the same network: 

 

 

 http://<PI-IP>:5000 

 

 

 Find the Pi’s IP: 

 hostname -I

 

 

 Run On Demand (Manual Service Controls) 

 Start: 

 sudo systemctl start routetrack-dashboard.service

 

 Stop: 

 sudo systemctl stop routetrack-dashboard.service

 

 Restart: 

 sudo systemctl restart routetrack-dashboard.service

 

 Status: 

 systemctl status routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

 

 

 Next Steps 

 Now that the dashboard is always online, the next improvements will focus on making RouteTrack truly “truck ready”: 

 

 

 Shift mode (Start Shift / End Shift buttons) 

 

 

 Offline mapping options (for no cell coverage) 

 

 

 Exports (GeoJSON/CSV) and backup strategy for on-the-go use